Judge mulls whether to suppress evidence against Steven Powell

Calling it "general exploratory rummaging in a person's belongings," attorneys for Steven Powell on Monday argued that evidence against their client in his voyeurism and child pornography case was collected illegally and should be thrown out.

“I felt that the defense's arguments were very strong legally and that the prosecution's arguments were rather weak. They didn't really support their claims”

Alina Powell

Even if the diaries were legally taken, that did not give police the right to also seize all the digital media in the house, including five computers, 13 towers and six hard drives, Quigley argued. He said police went beyond the scope of their investigation and violated his client's Fourth Amendment rights.

But prosecutor Grant Blinn contended that it was Steven Powell himself who went on national television and "bragged" the diaries were an important part of the investigation. He admitted it would have been difficult to get search warrant if Powell had not appeared on TV.

Furthermore, he reminded the judge of another diary from Susan Powell that was found in a safety deposit box in Utah after she disappeared. In it, Powell wrote that if something should happen to her, it may not be an accident and her husband may be involved.

Blinn also said the defense was being unrealistic about how specific the warrant needed to be concerning the items police were authorized to search.

"What they're really trying to create is a moving target that law enforcement will never be able to hit in Susan Powell's disappearance," he said.

He said Steven Powell was essentially arguing that once the physical journals were recovered, the search should have stopped. "That's a little like saying, in a homicide investigation, that once you recover the firearm, you don't get to look for the shell casings."

Outside the courtroom, Chuck Cox said the hearing went as he expected.

"I think it's clearly a valid search and I think (the defense's) arguments are ridiculous. I think they're trying to reach for anything they possibly can," he said.

Pictures of Susan Cox Powell were also found in Steven Powell's room, according to police. Although those photos are not part of Steven Powell's criminal case, Cox said it was important for him to be at the hearing.

"My daughter was a victim of Steven Powell's voyeurism so she's also a victim in this case," he said.

Cox said Monday was the first time he had seen Steven Powell in person since his confrontation with Powell during a honk-and-wave event in Puyallup in August of 2011, right before Powell was arrested. Powell got into a heated argument with Cox, resulting in a judge issuing a restraining order between the two.

Powell, 61, appeared by many in the courtroom to be noticeably thinner on Monday. He answered, "Yes I am" clearly when a judge asked him if he was Steven Powell. But for most of the hearing, Powell stood and listened to the arguments, nodding his head in agreement at times when his attorneys presented their cases and occasionally talking to the co-counsel.

Outside the courtroom, Alina Powell defended both her father and brother, Josh Powell, saying that nobody knows what happened to Susan Powell.

"I would say that there's no evidence that my brother had anything to do with (her disappearance) based on objective fact. However, I wouldn't have any idea. None of us do, not without actual evidence. All any of us could have ever done was wait for the truth, wait for evidence and look for justice rather than rumor."

Alina Powell said she knows what people think about her brother, and she understands why. But she said there are parts of the police investigation into Susan's disappearance that the public does not know about, although she would not elaborate on Monday.

Josh Powell murdered his two young sons and killed himself in February just days after a judge ruled that his boys would remain in the custody of his in-laws for the next several months.

Pat is a veteran police and courts reporter for the Deseret News and KSL and has covered some of the biggest stories in Utah for the past two decades. He is a graduate of Michigan State University with a BA in journalism.